Rail-joint.



PATENTED NOV. 28, 1905. J. E. ALEXANDER.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 22, 1905.

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l ATTORNEYS NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. ALEXANDER, OF COVINGTON, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF l vTOIRA DEW, OF COVINGTON, VIRGINIA.

RAIL-JOINT.

Patented Nov. 28, 1905.

Application filed June 22, 1905. Serial No. 266,427.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on about line 2 2 of Fig.1. Fig. 3 is a detailperspective view of one end of the lug-carrying fish-plate. Fig. 4 is adetail side elevation of one end of one of the rails, and Fig. 5 is adetail view of one of the wedges.

The rails A may be of ordinary construction, except that I provide intheir webs A slots A2, which are elongated in the direction oflength ofthe rails and are adapted to re` ceive the inwardly-projecting lugs B onthe fish-plateB. The iish-platesB and?) are alike, except that theirish-plate l is not provided with the lugs B, but simply has bolt-holesformed through it to register with the boltholes b formed through theiish-plate B and through the lugs B on the inner side of saidfish-plate, the boltsC passing through the openings in the fish-platesand being secured by nuts or otherwise, as desired. The formation of theholes b through the lugs B of the fish-plate B is an important featureof the invention, as thereby all lateral or shearing strain on the boltsis prevented.

At their lower ends on their outer faces the fish-plates B and b areprovided with the inwardly-tapering surfaces B3 and b3 and the rail endsfit at their bases in the chair D, which is of a special construction,as will be described. This chair has the base-plate D and is provided atthe opposite ed es thereof with the inwardly-projecting c asp portionsDZ, whose inner edges slope both verticall and longitudinally, beingundercut vertica y at d and tapering longitudinally at d from a pointmidway between their ends outwardly toward their opposite ends andpreferably corrugated on their inner edges, as shown, to coperate withcorrugations e on for the bolts the outer edges of the clamping-keys E,as best shown in Fig. l of the drawings.

In operation the fish-plates are applied as shown in Figs, 1 and 2, therail ends being seated in the chair, and the keys are then drivenbetween the inner edges of the claspplates D2 of the chair and theundercut lower edges of the iish-plates, and such keys when they aredriven home operate to press the inner edges of the fish-plates inwardlytoward the rails and to bind the upper edges of the fish-plates snuglyagainst the tread portions of the rails and to clamp the rails securelywithin the chair, as described. These keys taper longitudinally on theirouter edges at E and also slope transversely on said edges to coperatewith the undercut edges d of the chair, and by the corrugated edges ofthe keys interlocking with the corresponding edges of the chair the keysas they are pressed home are locked against accidental retrogrademovement. In practice I prefer to make the iish-plates of such heightthat a slight space will be left between their lower edges and the websof the rails to permit the keys to bind the iish-plates inplace when thesaid keys are driven home in the use of the invention.

-The construction is simple, inexpensive, and furnishes a strongeasily-applied joint, as will be understood from the drawings andforegoing description.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. The rail-joint herein described comprising the rails having theirwebs provided with slots elongated in the direction of length of therails, and fish-plates having bolt-openings and one of said plates beingprovided on its inner side with inwardly-projecting lugs to iit in theslots of the rails and having its bolt-holes formed through said lugs,the iishplates being provided on their outer faces at their lower edgeswith inwardly-tapering surfaces, the chair provided at its edges withinwardly-projecting clasp portions overlying the base of the rails andhaving their inner edges tapered outwardly from a middlepoint towardtheir ends, said inner faces being also corrugated and taperingoutwardly from their upper to their lower edges, the bolts passingthrough the iish-plates and rail-sec- IOO IOS

tions, and the keys tapering longitudinally and transversely andcorrugated on their outer edges to interlock with the corrugations ofthe clasp portions of the chair when driven and operating between saidclasp portions and the inwardly-sloping surfaces at the lower edges ofthe fish-plates, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the chair, the railsections having their websprovided with slotted openings, the fish-plates, one of which isprovided with lugs fitting said slotted openings and having boltholesformed through said lugs and the opposite fish-plate, the bolts passingthrough said holes, and the keys operating between the chair and thefish-plates, substantially as set forth.

3. In a rail-joint the combination of the rail-sections, the chairprovided at its ends with clasp portions overlying the base of therail-sections and tapering on their inner edges from their iniddlesoutwardly toward their ends and undercut on their inner edges, thefish-plates and the keys operating between the tapered undercut edges ofthe chair and the said fish-plates, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination in a rail-joint with the rail-sections having slottedopenings, of the fish-plates, one of which is provided withinwardly-projecting lugs entering the slots in the sh-plates and withbolt-holes through said lugs, the opposite fish-plate having openingscoinciding with those in the lugs and the bolts passing through saidopenings, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the rail-sections, the fish-plates provided ontheir outer sides at their lower ends with the undercut surfaces, thechair receiving the railesections and provided at its edges with theclasp portions overlying the base of the rails and tapering on theirinner edges from their middles toward their ends, and the keys operatingbetween said surfaces of the chair-clasps and the undercut surfaces ofthe fish-plates, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of the rails, the iishplates, the chair receiving therails and having clasp portions overlying the base of the rails andcorrugated on their inner edges, and the keys operating between thefish-plates and the corrugated edges and formed to cooperate with thelatter, substantially as set forth.

y JOHN E. ALEXANDER. Witnesses:

SoLoN C. KEMoN, PERRY B. TURPIN.

